Previewing Week Five of Premier League Headlined by Manchester City vs. Chelsea

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This weekend's Premier League action is headlined by a blockbuster game between Chelsea and Man City. Image: PremierLeague.com Amid...

This weekend's Premier League action is headlined by a blockbuster game between Chelsea and Man City. Image: PremierLeague.com

Amid all the imagination captured by a thrilling start to the UEFA Champions League, it's the weekend again, and who could have forgot about the best league in the World? Week five of the Barclays Premier League features a heavyweight encounter along with a stage set for potential upsets.Loftus Road will proceed the weekend as Harry Redknapp's Queens Park Rangers take on Stoke City, live on BT Sport. It's not been the best of starts for the promoted team, in fact one of the worse. Finding themselves at 16th place with the worst goal difference in the league, they have only picked up three points in their campaign so far, with a narrow win over Sunderland. Before that though, they had lost to Hull City in the opener. 4-0 losses to Tottenham and most recently being trampled by Manchester United forecasts impending doubt for the remainder of the season.So, how have Stoke done? In terms of points they've only done one better than their opponents on Saturday lunchtime. A draw with Hull City before a shocking win over Manchester City provided optimism for the Potters, however gifting Leicester their first win last weekend has made them doubt also. Despite this, they're definitely the favourites, performing much better not necessarily with the results, but their impact on the game.Things aren't too drastic, for Stoke, at least considering the timeframe of the season. However, for Harry Redknapp you can easily throw the rags and say this is a "must win", it obviously should be. The work load will continue to pile up if they continue their start to the season. Expect QPR to make things quite cagey, and with that a potential 1-1 draw.Onto the 3pm kick-offs. Four games on the bill for Saturday afternoon but all eyes will be turned to Aston Villa vs. Arsenal.Villa Park's clash is not to disappoint with the previous history between these two. With Arsenal potentially vulnerable following their loss to Dortmund in the weekend and Villa on a roll, it could be another shock result for them on Saturday.Undefeated in the opening four games and only dropping two points to Newcastle, it's been a dream start for Paul Lambert. Aston Villa are an unprecedented second place in the table. Yes, it's really early doors, considering their future games, but if they snatch something from Arsenal at Villa Park where its all possible, then the optimism at the Holte End will only increase. Should they perform like they did against Liverpool, their chances are very credible.Arsenal know what it's like to lose to Villa, take the opening weekend of last season for example. After losing at the Emirates, Arsenal were barraged with doubt and criticism, they turned it around to finish fourth, but can this be their turning point? For what it's worth, Arsenal are undefeated in the Premier League so far but say that with three draws under their belts. It will be a compelling game.Other games in the 3pm itinerary feature Burnley vs. Sunderland, Swansea vs. Southampton and Newcastle vs. Hull.Onto the Saturday night football - live on Sky Sports, Liverpool make their way to Upton Park to battle West Ham United. It's been somewhat turbulent for Rodgers' men so far coming off a stunning 2-1 win to Ludogorets at Anfield in the Champions League. A week ago however, they slipped to Aston Villa. Can Liverpool know trek forward in consistency?There are four games on Sunday, yes, four. Two of those will be televised - Leicester vs. Man Utd and then the big one, Manchester City vs. Chelsea. The other two, presumably scheduled initially for the Saturday, now take place on Sunday due to Everton and Tottenham's Europa League participation.Tottenham will host West Brom at White Hart Lane in their search for progress while Everton, coming off a big win over Wolfsburg in the Europa League, battle Crystal Palace at Goodison Park. It really will be a Super Sunday on Sky Sports - first, the new-look Manchester United side, who blew away Queens Park Rangers last Sunday, are in action. Van Gaal takes his squad, including some £150m+ of additions over the Summer, to the King Power Stadium to face Leicester City.The Foxes have made a terrific shout for themselves in the top flight. They stole a point from Everton, and did the same with the Gunners. After losing to Chelsea they waved the tough opening and then got their first win in the league, beating Stoke last weekend. All the pressure is on Manchester United. Expectations have skyrocketed following their quality performance up against QPR.Falcao could make his start, so could he score? It's possible but the way Leicester have played makes it awkward, they will be reluctant to roll over the United welcoming party part II. However, despite their show of resilience, Utd won't necessarily rout, but win comfortably by 2-0.Then, the big one, to close out the weekend. In the pre-season, there was bound to be the an abundance of title columns around sites. But two names continued to crop up for obvious reasons - Chelsea and Manchester City.Manchester City won the Barclays Premier League title on the last day of the season edging Liverpool for all the marbles. Now, they have blazed past Liverpool before drawing 2-2 with Arsenal most recently. However, they were thwarted late in the week by Bayern, losing 1-0 from a late strike from Jerome Boateng. Speaking of Europe, the Blues only got a point for their efforts following a resilient fight back from Schalke.Chelsea meanwhile look to maintain a 100% record in the league. They are pretty much everyone's title favourites, beating Burnley, Leicester, Everton and Swansea. This will be the true test to potentially solidify their credibility.This game will be the pivotal projection for the title race of the season. Are Chelsea the real deal or will the Champions overhaul them?It's going to be one superb weekend of Premier League football. We're ready for it on TheSportMatrix.com.- More Football- Champions League coverage